Signaling apparatus for railroad-crossings



(No Model.) ZSheet's-Sheet 1 J. H. HAYES.

SIGNALING APPARATUS FOR RAILROAD OROSSINGS. N0. 257,583, Patented May 9,1882

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J. H. HAYES.

SIGNALING APPARATUS FOR RAILROAD OROSSINGS.

I No. 257,583 V Patented May 9,1882.

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YUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. HAYES, OF GERRO GORDO, ILLINOIS.

SlGNALlNG APPARATUS FOR RAlLROAD-CROSSINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,583, dated May 9, 1882.

Application filed October 17, 1881. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, J AMEsH.-HAYEs, of Gerro Gordo, in the county of Piatt and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling Apparatusfor RailroadOrossin gs and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view; Fig.2, a sectionalview taken on the lineman, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sectional-view taken on line 3 3 Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents the device applied to a doubletrack road.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures denote the same parts. I

My invention has for its object to provide an improved signaling apparatus for railroad 2o crossings, which will give timely warning .of

theapproach of trains, and thus serve to prevent accidents and it consists in a novel construction and combination of parts, which I will now. proceed to describe.

In the drawings, A represents a shaft run ning transversely of a railroad-track, B, and mounted in suitable bearings, and having secured rigidly to it a ratchet-disk, O, the same consisting of a disk having a single ratchet- 0 tooth, c, as shown. Mountedupon thisra'tchetdisk is a weighted operating-lever, D, constructed with an opening, D, larger than the diameter of the ratchet-disk, so as to permit of considerable play on said disk, and having a 3 5 ratchet-tooth, d, which is adapted to engage with the tooth c on the ratchet-disk when the lever is rocked in one direction, but to ride over said tooth a when the lever is rocked in the opposite direction. The lower end of the 40 lever is weighted for the purpose of maintaining it normally in upright position, while its upper end projects up in close proximity to one of the rails of the railroad-track, and on the outside thereof, so as to be struck by the projecting rim of the wheels of a passing train.

A suitable stop, E, is provided, against which the lower weighted end of the operating-lever I) strikes to disengage said lever from the ratchet-disk, as will be presently explained.

Secured to the inner end of the shaft A is a weighted shaft-setting lever, F, the function the string is pulled and the bell rings, and

when rocked in the other direction. a spring, H, connected to the lower arm of the bell-shaft operates to again ring the bell.

The main part of my apparatus is intended to be located on the railroad at some distance from the crossing, in the direction from which the train is approaching, and the bell or other signaling device is arranged at the cross-road,

the string or wire 9 connecting the: two being conducted over pulleys on suitable posts,or passed through tubes in or on the ground, as desired. Let it be supposed that a train is ap proaching in the direction indicated by the arrow. As the rims of the wheels strike the upper end of the operating-lever D said lever is vibrated or rocked, and by the engagement of its tooth cl with the tooth c of the ratchetdisk the shaft A is rocked, thereby causing the bell to be rung. Each time the operating-lever is fully depressed its lower weighted end strikes the stop E, which lifts the lever out of engage ment with the ratchet-disk, whereupon the weighted shaft-setting lever F operates'to quickly bring the shaft and ratchet-disk back to normal position, while the released operating-lever is itself also restored to its first position by the weight of its lower end. At each complete vibration or reciprocation of the op erating-lever, therefore, the shaft is rocked e and the bell is rung twice-once by the rocking action of the shaft and the second time by the operation of the spring H- and as such complete vibration of the lever takes place upon the striking of the wheels of every truck of the 5 train a continuous ringing of the bell takes place while the train is passing, thus affording a sufficient warning'to persons at the crossing that it is dangerous to proceed till the train goes by. rod

Where there are anumber of tracks ata crossing, and it is desired to have the trains passin g on each of the tracks produce signals, it is only necessary to extend the shaft A way across and provide a ratchet-disk and operatin g-lever at each track. With such an arrangement each operating-lever acts entirely independently of the others, and a train passing on any one of the tracks will produce the desired signals without affecting the position of the operating-levers at any of the other tracks. From thisindependence of action it follows that although any one or more of the operatinglevers may be held depressed by a standing train or trains a passing train over an open track will operate upon the lever at that track and produce a-signal without fail.

I do not wish to confine myself to the precise form of ratchet-disk and operating-lever here shown, as equivalents of these co-operating parts may be devised somewhat difierent in construction. For instance, the lever, instead of encircling the disk might be arranged alongside of it, and the ratchet-teeth of both lever and disk located on the side of each of these parts. So, too, other forms of signaling devices may be employed in place of the bell, as hereinbefore suggested.

The operating-lever is preferably prevented from lateral movementoff the ratchet-disk by the side walls, I I, of a casing in which it is placed, and a guard or shield, K, is secured to it, so as to move with it, for preventing the entrance of dirt, rain, 850., into the casing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is-

1.. The combination of the shaft, the ratchetdisk' thereon, the vibratory operating-lever cooperating with the ratchet-disk, and weighted to bring it back to normal position, and a stop for disengaging the lever from the ratchetdisk at the proper time, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the shaft, the ratchetdisk thereon, and the vibratory operating-lever co-operatin g with the ratchet-disk, and weighted to bring it back to normal position, with a stop for automatically disengaging the lever from the disk, and means for automatically resetting the shaft and its disk after they have been released from the operating-arm, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the shaft, theratchetdiskthereon, and the vibratory operating-lever co-operatin g with the ratchet-disk, and weighted to bring it back to normal position, with a stop for disengaging the lever from the disk, means for resetting the shaft and disk, and a signaling device operated by the' rocking of the shaft, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the shaft, the ratchetdisk thereon, the vibratory operating-lever cooperating with the ratchet-disk, as described, and weighted to bring it back to normal position, and a stop for disengaging the lever, with the weighted resetting-lever anda signalingdevice connected to the resetting-lever, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the shaft, the ratchetdisk thereon, the vibratory operating-lever cooperating with the disk, as described, a stop for disengaging the lever, the weighted resetting-lever for bringing the shaft back to normal position, the bell, and the connecting-cord and spring, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of the shaft, a series of ratchet-disks mounted thereon, and a series of operating-levers co-operating with said disks, as described, with means for disengaging said levers from said disks, means for resetting the shaft after each partial rotation, and a signaling device operated from the shaft, whereby the operating of any one of the operating-levers will cause the shaft to be rocked and the signal to be made without the disturbance of any of the other levers, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the ratchet-disk, thelever, and the casing, of the guard moving with the lever for preventing theentrance of dirt, water, &c., into the casing, substantially as described.

JAMES H. HAYES.

Witnesses:

T. J. WIMMER, H. M. GREEN. 

